GSM Vehicles

Building the new frame

Colin Hyde — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:11:27 +0000

We’ve built the frame that will ride under the 1952 Cruiser. This frame is deeper and stronger than the old one, with room to accommodate holding tanks.

In the photos, you can see the new frame resting on the remains of the old frame. Note that the A-frame (tongue area) is considerably longer. This will allow for installation of a tongue-mounted generator or other options. We also included a space below for a spare to be mounted, much like current model Airstreams.
The bottom picture shows the new frame all painted up and ready to go. The tongue will accept a 2-5/16″ ball so the client can use the same hitch ball as he uses to carry his late-model Airstream.

Body off

Colin Hyde — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:37:15 +0000

With the frame completely shot, there was no choice but to remove the shell from the frame and start planning an entirely new frame. But that’s OK. The client wants holding tanks for boondocking, which this trailer didn’t have originally. Modifying it to current-day standards would probably have required extensive frame modification anyway. This way, we can start with an entirely new frame that is rock-solid and designed for the new floorplan.

Without the floor and frame attached, an Airstream shell is very floppy. So we built an internal frame of wood to temporarily hold the shell (picture above).

Then we very carefully lifted the body off the old frame. You can see “liftoff” in the picture below. You can also see the rotted and missing crossmembers of the old frame.

The shell is now resting on a temporary flatbed while we use the old frame as a template for the new one. We are lengthening the tongue 6″ to allow for more equipment, and other design changes will be posted in future blog entries. Stay tuned!

Gutting the ‘52 Cruiser

Colin Hyde — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:14:23 +0000

All good projects start with a good gutting. In this case, there wasn’t much interior left to the Cruiser, but what we found was nasty. Skeletal remains of snakes, burn marks from faulty wiring, rotted floor and frame members, contamination of the insulation, etc.

Everything came out, including the interior aluminum walls. We pressure-washed the interior to ensure completely clean aluminum.

The frame and floor were utterly shot. Note the wood 2×4s someone had scabbed in the frame as a desperate measure to hold the trailer together.

Vintage Thunder painted

Colin Hyde — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:43:36 +0000

It’s amazing how nice a trailer can look with a new paint job.

This paint job will last for at least as long as the original, and probably longer. Paints are much better than in 1977 when the original job was done.

The nice thing about an Argosy is that you can have it any color you want.

Stripping Vintage Thunder

Colin Hyde — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:40:25 +0000

On May 12, 2005, the Argosy looked like this:

The paint was so bad that virtually none of it was left when we were done sanding. Sanding and prepping the body took about 50 hours.

Vintage Thunder “before”

Colin Hyde — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:35:56 +0000

Did you know we have a full paint booth? Most Airstream owners never paint their rigs, but if you do (or if you have an Argosy), we can handle it. This 1977 Argosy had original (peeling) paint when it came in. We needed to do a complete strip of the old paint job and prep it for new automotive paint.

The beginning of the 68 Caravel

Colin Hyde — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:24:04 +0000

Rich Luhr, the publisher of Airstream Life magazine, brought us this little Caravel for a complete restoration. As you can see in this picture, it was dented on the roof when he brought it in, but that was the least of the problems. The floor had hidden rot, and when we took it apart, nearly 2/3 of the floor had to be replaced. I’ll post more photos of the mess we found in my next blog entry.